SHROOM
it actually will change the way it looks. A dehydrator does not help with the wrinkles standing out like air drying does. Forced drying of any type changes the look and or flavour: eg. to much heat will cause a darker root and a red ring inside the root,unacceptable.
The rules have been set for thousands of years.

Guy

Check this box to be notified of replies to this topic.Note: BBcode and smileys are still usable.

thanks for the reply ... i saw something the other day here on the net about using one ... just cant find where i was reading about it ... figured this would be a good place to ask ... ive never done it so thats why i asked ... appreciate it

Check this box to be notified of replies to this topic.Note: BBcode and smileys are still usable.

I've used a dehydrator to finish drying a few roots, but only after they were already 90% dry. Didn't notice any difference, but I havent ever dried them completely with a dehydrator because I've heard other people warn that it may discolor or change the shape of the roots. I've only done this a couple of times just to get the last few roots dried so that I could sell the whole bunch. p.s. when I did this I used the lowest heat setting on my dehydrator which I believe is 140 degrees.

Check this box to be notified of replies to this topic.Note: BBcode and smileys are still usable.

I asked Bob Beyfuss this question last year and he said that it (something like a Ronco dehydrator) worked well for him and others that he knows. Things usually dry in 3 days. He said that the temperature doesn't reach high enough to burn the inside of ginseng. I have seen Larry harding dry some of his stuff on the Ronco type dehydrator in the warm room where he dries the rest of his sang, but he puts a large space between the heating element and the ginseng tray. I used a Ronco dehydrator last year, and put some \"spacers\" between the heating tray and the bottom ginseng tray, as well as remove the top cover so to keep temp low. It worked well, but I am preferring to slowly dry them now naturally over a month, using...Ronco trays, spread out without heat. The appearance of heat dried vs. room temp dried may be different. I believe there may be more vertical wrinkles in the dehydrator, but that may be an illusion. I think people in Hong Kong may not only prefer a little soil on their sang, they may like that yellow look from drying at a certain (higher) temperature. I don't try to turn up the temperature to get that yellow color as long as I naturally dry them properly. I am the one using this stuff so I am okay with that.

Check this box to be notified of replies to this topic.Note: BBcode and smileys are still usable.

I would not recommend this. I have dried in a dehydrator before and the dealer recognized it right away. It is certainly a no-no. I didn't get docked to bad on price, but it's better to let it air dry at temperatures under about 95 degrees f.

Check this box to be notified of replies to this topic.Note: BBcode and smileys are still usable.